American Housing & Social Justice: The History of Housing Segregation & Future of Equitable Cities

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

This course will follow the evolution of housing in the context of American Urbanism over the last hundred years and explore not only the methods employed to discriminate against minority communities, but also how these policies have ended up failing the suburban and rural communities they were intended to privilege. Consequently, the outcomes are not only ongoing racial injustice but also a nationwide affordable housing crisis and crumbling infrastructure. The course will be broken down into three parts. We will explore the history and evolution of housing segregation; the current results of decades of racist policies and actions; as well as potential ideas to reverse the inequities in housing to create a stronger future for all communities. No existing knowledge of architecture or urbanism is required.